Fourteen Yankees MiLB Players Become Free Agents

Thursday night we learned that Zoilo Almonte, Antoan Richardson, and Scott Sizemore all elected free agency and became free agents rather than spend another season in the Yankees minor league system. Today we learn that 11 other members of the Yankees farm systems have also become free agents this week.

Joining Almonte, Richardson, and Sizemore are Carmen Angelini, Jeremy Bleich, Francisco Rondon, Nik Turley, Ramon Benjamin, Jose Toussen, David Herndon, Andrew Bailey (who has already been re-signed), Jairo Heredia, Jose Gil, Reymond Nunez, and switch pitcher Pat Venditte. 

We wish these 14 young men good luck and hope they latch on with another organization soon. 

Trenton Thunder Add Carmen Angelini To 25 Man Roster

The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, announced their official Opening Day roster for the 2014 season.

Trenton's Media Day was held at ARM & HAMMER Park Tuesday, and one change has been made since that original player list was released:

Infielder Carmen Angelini will begin the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and infielder Dan Fiorito takes his place on the Thunder's active, 25-man roster.

In addition, six players will begin the season on the Thunder Disabled List. Those six players are pitchers Scott Allen, Rigoberto Arrebato and Nick Goody, catcher Kyle Higashioka, infielder/outfielder Casey Stevenson and outfielder Slade Heathcott. 

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization and Bill Cook. 

Four Homers Pace Thunder Past Portland; Castillo & Pinder Rejoin Team

PORTLAND, ME - Four thunderous home runs on an afternoon where Trenton starting pitcher Nik Turley allowed just two runs in five innings were enough to lead the Thunder past the Portland Sea Dogs, 9-4, in the penultimate game of the regular season Sunday at Hadlcok Field.

Prior to the contest, the Yankees announced that shortstop Ali Castillo and reliever Branden Pinder had been promoted to Trenton from Class A-Advanced Tampa. Shortstop Carmen Angelini was placed on the team's disabled list with a left ankle sprain and LHP Caleb Smith was transferred to Tampa.

Facing the No. 5 prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, Henry Owens, Trenton established the tone early. The second and fourth batters of the game (Ramon Flores and Gary Sanchez) homered to stake starting pitcher a 2-0 lead before he took to the mound.

Turley went out on the Hadlock Field mound in front of 7,368 fans and tossed four shutout innings before allowing a pair of runs in the 5th. Turley gets credit for the win which is his 11th of the season-surpassing the 10 wins he posted in 2012.

The other two home runs blasted by the Thunder came off the bats of Reegie Corona (5) and Ben Gamel (1). The homer by Gamel was the first in his Double-A career and was the highlight in a game in which he finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a home run and a walk.  

Castillo and Pinder each played for Trenton earlier in the season and are each expected to be a park of the team's playoff roster. In 46 games as a Thunder, Castillo batted .218 with no home runs and 22 RBI. He was hitting .234 in 73 games with Tampa. 

Pinder made 19 relief appearances earlier at the beginning of the season for the Thunder and went 1-1 with five saves and a 6.29 ERA. His numbers improved greatly with Tampa, going 1-2 with a 3.49 in 21 appearances (five starts).

The regular season concludes Monday with a 1:00 p.m. matinee game against the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field. RHP Scottie Allen (2-0, 1.59) pitches for the Thunder against RHP Jeremy Khert (2-3, 4.33) for Portland. Trenton will use the ballgame as a final tune-up before the Eastern League East Division Championship Series against the Binghamton Mets beginning Wednesday at ARM & HAMMER Park. Tickets are available for Game 1 and Game 2 of the series by going towww.trentonthunder.com/tickets or by calling (609)394-3300. Radio coverage of Monday's game on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and online begins at 12:45 p.m.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Turley's Gem Leads Thunder Past Rock Cats, 5-1

Longest outing of season by Thunder SP sets tone

(Trenton, NJ) - Nik Turley tossed a team-season-high 7.1 brilliant innings and Trenton scored twice in the seventh and eighth innings to break open a close game and defeat the New Britain Rock Cats, 5-1, in the second of a four-game series Tuesday night in front of 5,652 fans at ARM & HAMMER Park.

The win, coupled with a Portland win at New Hampshire, means the Thunder's (66-62) lead for the Eastern Division Wild Card spot stands at 4.0 games over the Fisher Cats (66-69) and Sea Dogs (66-69) with seven games remaining in the regular season.

Turley (10-8) allowed an unearned run in the second inning and then put the clamps on New Britain for the rest of his night. The lefty scattered four hits and four walks while striking out seven batters. He tossed 98 pitches in the longest pitching performance by the Thunder hurler in 2013.

With the score tied a 1 in the bottom of the seventh, Yeral Sanchez connected for a go-ahead two-run home run (2) against reliever Cole Johnson. It was a no-doubter to left field that also scored Carmen Angelini, who had led off the frame with a double.

Angelini struck for an insurance hit in the eighth, driving a two-out, two-run double into left-center against Jose Gonzalez that made the score 5-1. Zach Nuding recorded the final five outs for the Thunder to record his first career save.

After being shutout for the first four innings by Kyle Davies (2 IP, 1 H) and B.J. Hermsen, Trenton tied the score in the fifth when Reegie Corona stroked a two-out RBI single plating Angelini.

Game three of the series is slated for a 7:05 pm first pitch on Wednesday as Trenton tries to edge closer to clinching a playoff spot. Thunder right-hander Scottie Allen (2-0, 1.02) will get the ball for manager Tony Franklin while righty DJ Baxendale (5-6, 5.74) will start for New Britain.

Limited tickets are available through the Thunder box office at (609) 394-3300 or online at www.trentonthunder.com. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and also streaming online begins at 6:45 pm.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Late Push by Thunder Bats not Enough, Lose 5-3

Late Push by Thunder Bats not Enough, Lose 5-3

Thunder pull within one run in 8th inning

TRENTON, NJ - The Trenton Thunder did not record their first hit of the ballgame until the 6th inning, at which point the New Britain Rock Cats had already jumped out to a 4-0 lead in their 5-3 win over the Thunder Monday night.

Trevor May tossed four perfect innings before allowing a walk to Kyle Roller to begin the 5th inning. He hadn't allowed a hit in the ballgame with one out in the 6th inning but Mason Williams and Ramon Flores notched back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Kyle Roller was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but Carmen Angelini flew out to centerfield as the tying run in a 4-0 game.

May finished the night with six innings of shutout, two-run baseball while striking out nine Thunder batters. In the last seven days, May has gone 2-0 with just 4 hits allowed and two runs in 12.0 innings with 13 strikeouts against the Thunder.

Trenton scored three times in the 8th inning off Dan Turpen to draw back to within a run, 4-3. With the bases empty and two outs, Flores and Jose Pirela walked consecutively. Roller then delivered an RBI single and Angelini followed with a two-run double. New Britain made a pitching change so lefty Ryan O'Rourke would face the lefty Ben Gamel with the tying run on second base, and he struck out Gamel looking to end the threat.

The Rock Cats scored a run off Francisco Rondon in the top of the 9th to double their lead to 5-3.

With the loss and a win by the Portland Sea Dogs over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Trenton's lead in the East Division Wild Card remains 3.0 games over the Fisher Cats but is now only 4.0 over the Sea Dogs with 8 games remaining in the regular season. New Britain lingers 6.5 games behind the Thunder.

Trenton and the New Britain Rock Cats battle at ARM & HAMMER Park in Game 2 of this four-game series Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Trenton sends LHP Nik Turley (9-8, 4.12) to the mound against RHP Cole De Vries (0-2, 1.69) for the Rock Cats. Limited tickets available at www.trentonthunder.com/tickets or by calling (609)394-3300. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and streaming online begins at 6:45 p.m.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Two Runs in 9th the Difference in 4-2 Trenton Loss

Two Runs in 9th the DIfference in 4-2 Loss

Cecchini's two-run single breaks 2-2 tie

TRENTON, NJ - Two runs in the top of the 9th inning for the Portland Sea Dogs broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Sea Dogs a 4-2 win Saturday night at ARM & HAMMER Park.

After the Trenton Thunder bullpen escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 8th inning, Tommy Kahnle entered the game in the 9th for Zach Nuding. Kahnle recorded outs to two of the first three batters he faced, but walked Shannon Wilkerson and Deven Marrero consecutively to load the bases. No runs had scored at that point, and Kahnle could have gotten out of the inning unscathed with one more out, but lefty Garin Cecchini slapped a single to left field to score a pair of runs.

The game became tied late when Gary Sanchez connected on his first Double-A homerun in the bottom of the 7th inning for the Thunder. On a 2-1 pitch with the Thunder trailing 2-1 in the game, the 20-year old catcher turned on a breaking ball from Portland starter Keith Couch and deposited it out over the four levels of billboards in right field. Sanchez, who had 13 homers for Tampa at the time of his promotion, finished the game 1-for-4.

The Thunder sent the middle of the lineup to the plate against Eric Niesen in the bottom of the 9th inning, but Niesen struck out Jose Pirela and Sanchez for the first two outs of the inning. Kyle Roller then singled to left-field to bring the tying run to the plate in Carmen Angelini, but Angelini grounded into a fielder's choice to end the ballgame.

Thunder starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell started his second career Double-A game, and first Double-A game at home. He was charged with two runs over 6.1 innings in which he struck out three batters, walked two and allowed six hits. He was given his second no-decision in as many starts and lowered his ERA to 3.18.

With the loss and a double-header split by the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Reading, Trenton's lead in the East Division Wild Card is 3.0 games over the Fisher Cats and 4.0 over the Sea Dogs with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

The Thunder complete their four-game series and continue their eight-game home stand against the Portland Sea Dogs Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Trenton sends RHP Mikey O'Brien (7-7, 4.20) to the mound against LHP Chris Hernandez (1-0, 2.25) for the Sea Dogs. Limited tickets available at www.trentonthunder.com/tickets or by calling (609)394-3300. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and streaming online begins at 6:45 p.m.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE.